Dream Chaser: The Sabo Chronicles
by Araceil
Summary: No Pairing. Battered, beaten, burnt and bruised, Sabo continues his journey to write an epic novel of his adventures. Prologue Arc: The Revolutionaries in West Blue
1. C1: Breathe

**DREAM CHASER**

**Haroo everyone, 8) Welcome to the first chapter of the Dream Chaser: the Sabo Chronicles. I won't bore you with a long introductory Author's note but I would just like to say:**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter and the story. This is dedicated to my friend _Millie Ishtar Motou_, without whom there would be no story!**

_**000**_

**CHAPTER ONE**

The flames seared at his skin, the smoke thick and scorching in his mouth, bitter and ashy in his lungs, painful, he could feel his arm-hair shrivelling as he desperately tried to smother the flames with his coat, only succeeding in fanning them higher as he whimpered in frustration. He wasn't naïve, he knew that he had seconds to make his escape before the ship was sunk, the Tenryuubito were even more heartless than the Nobles he was born into. Some kind of genetic superiority complex coupled with the cruelty they stewed in since birth and the authority to do anything they wished for whatever reason they wished. It was hard to tell what was a greater monster, Pirates, or the Tenryuubito, at least the Pirates were honest about their cruelty and actions – at least they had _honour!_

"Why'd they shoot me?" he hissed, yelping as the flames swept up and threatened to take his eyebrows off as well as his arm hair. He had stayed out of their way, sailed to the side allowing them unimpeded access to the harbour. Was it really the Jolly Roger he hoisted up?

Distantly he could hear someone pointing out that he was just a child and the cold response of '_Saint __Jalmack_' claiming that anyone who flies a black flag is a pirate no matter who it is. He guessed it really _was_ the Jolly Roger he was flying, but everyone knew kids played Pirates and Marines at his age, normal kids anyway, not kids actually sailing out to sea to try and _become_ Pirates.

"But most importantly..." the noble growled, disgust and scorn thick in his voice as he roughly reloaded his rifle. "A commoner shouldn't cross paths with my ship!" he snarled, making Sabo's blood run cold as he looked over his shoulder. The Tenryuubito pulled the trigger of his pump-action Blunderbuss.

A split second. A breath.

Sabo threw caution to the wind and dove through the burning hole in his deck, hat flying off, closing his eyes as he hit unforgiving wood and the ship exploded, heat and fire and splinters flaying his back, scorching his skin and prompting a howl of pain that drowned in the sudden flush of frigid sea-water the shattered hull allowed to burst in and sweep around him like a tidal wave, soothing the heat and burns but making the open slashes and splinters agonising.

Pain and darkness took him.

_**000**_

It had been hard, she was exhausted but most importantly, she was _free!_

Eight years, eight goddamn years, she had been a slave working on that Kami-damned Bridge, rain, shine, snow, sleet or heat, it didn't matter, you worked or you were whipped or thrown _off_ the bridge. She laughed, she laughed long and loud because there was no one to hit her for it, no food rations to take away, no solitary confinement to suffer through, no stones to be thrown at her.

She laughed until she cried and had to stop doing both as her stomach started to hurt, hunger and bruising making her curl up and cradle it with a miserable hiccup of pain as she looked at the endless expanse of blue around her. She was free, but it looked like she was going to die long before she was able to enjoy that freedom. Just typical. It was a task and a half escaping from Tequila Wolf but she had finally managed it only to die in the middle of the ocean on her own after drinking the last of her water the previous day.

She might as well _try_ and catch some food, this was the ocean right? There should be fish that she could catch. She hadn't made it this far just to die of dehydration and hunger now! She swore she was going to be free, she was going to _live_ and she was going to _enjoy_ her freedom now that she had clawed it back! Her! The bastard daughter of a Guardsman and a Slave, the Rape Child who fought her way to freedom! She _would __not __die __here!_

Getting to her knees, she leaned out over the side of her boat and promptly screamed, scrambling backwards, away from the edge as the first thing she saw was a corpse.

Panting and clutching at her chest she slowly forced herself to calm down, this wasn't the first time she'd seen a corpse, it was just startling to find one so soon after her escape and so _suddenly_ in her face when she looked overboard.

Crawling forward, she looked at the floating body carefully, blond hair, slightly charred, burnt and blistered red skin, he was face up so she could see that he was quite the cute kid, a few years younger than she was herself with what looked like a missing tooth between his open lips. Reaching out she tugged at his clothing, it wasn't ideal, being burnt and soaking wet, but if she dried it she could have an ordinary change of clothing, which was a hundred times better than the Slave issue boiler suit she was wearing. Gripping him under the armpits, she hauled the corpse out of the water and onto her ship, wincing in sympathy at the mess his back was, poor kid hadn't met a very pleasant end that was for sure.

With steady hands, she went about stripping the boy, ignoring his body as best she could – he was surprisingly well built for being such a midget – she measured herself against his clothing and cursed, they were too small for her. Not for the first time she cursed her budding womanly curves, because of them, her new clothes didn't fit, at all. Her hips were too wide for the trousers and her breasts were too big for the top, it made the armholes dig in to her shoulders rather painfully and she was worried that the seams would split if she tried to force the issue. Tugging the wet clothing off she tossed them down in a bad mood and reclothed herself in the horrid boiler suit and gave Corpse-san a bitter kick.

He groaned at the pain and this time she fell overboard with a shriek of horror.

_**000**_

Pain throbbed through his body obnoxiously as awareness began to return to him, Sabo groaned as he shifted, stiffening and whimpering as his back screeched in agony making his vision flash and spin, white hot fire racing across his back and the side of his neck and face. _Whhhy?_ Why did he _hurt_ so badly?

He panted, body tense as he tried not to move, willing the pain to go away so he could breathe properly, rerunning the last few moments of his memory to try and figure out why he was in such bad shape.

He jolted and hissed in pain as someone touched him, rolling him onto his stomach, the blinding pain finally tapering off into a maddening all consuming throbbing pain. Hot pain but at least it wasn't blinding fiery pain anymore. What had he been thinking diving below deck instead of overboard? The thing was on fire and he had seen what those shots did, why hadn't he tried to go for the railings?

"You are one tough nut, kiddo," a female voice told him, grudging admiration in her tone.

Dark eyes cracked open and peered upwards at the speaker, a young woman, about thirteen maybe fourteen years old, she wore a large and baggy pale grey jumpsuit, she was alarmingly thin with pale skin and a pretty face, her hair was quite long, loose and somewhat dirty and tangled from the sea-breeze and salt water, such a unique shade of blonde though. He knew Nobles who would pay through the nose to get a wig of hair that shade, caramel gold, almost amber and somewhat wavy, it looked like polished metal in the sunlight.

"Don't move, your back is basically ralphed kibble-meat right now," she told him sternly, eyes sliding away from his face to his wounds with a troubled expression. She shook her head and reached for something beside her, he blinked, watching as she used a pocket knife to split open some kelp-weed and carve out the white fibres inside. "Here, I ran out of water a few days ago, this should keep you hydrated though," she told him, gently easing it into his mouth, "Chew, suck and then spit it out when its dry," she advised, carving herself some as she did so.

"T-thank you," he muttered around the weeds, she glanced over at him and gave him a bitter smile.

"Don't be. I only dragged you out of the water to steal your clothes," she told him flatly as she stuck a few good-sized chunks in her mouth, "I didn't even know you were alive until I kicked you," she admitted, leaning back against the railing of her ship and looking skyward, watching as a seagull arced through the sky. "What's your name anyway, Kid?" she asked.

"S-Sabo, you?" he rasped, sucking greedily on the bitter juices in his mouth and swallowing them, it felt like heaven on his parched throat.

"Don't have one." She carved some more of the kelp-pulp with her knife, not looking at him.

Sabo frowned in confusion, "H-how can you not have – "

"None of your business," she snapped, glaring him into silence for a few moments before turning her attention back to her knife. The two of them sat in silence for a long time, listening to the seagulls crying overheard, the waves lapping against the hull of the small ship. "They called me Six, back at the Bridge where we worked," she finally explained, "I hate it, its not a name, its a number because we're not human enough to deserve names according to them," she spat, glaring at the wood above Sabo's head. She pulled at her jumpsuit, "I was born there, everyone else had names because they came from somewhere else but... I was born there and they stuffed me in one of these suits, the suit of a dead man and gave me his number." She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly, biting down on the thick fabric of her sleeve, worrying at it, Sabo could see similar torn threads and the occasional patch here and there were she had obviously bitten through the cloth on previous occasions.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you," she mumbled, burying her face to hide her expression.

Sabo stared at her and wondered if Kami-sama were laughing at him. Here he was, a Noble who had been shot by his own people being saved by a girl who was so poor she didn't even have a name, shown more compassion than even his parents gave him by a girl who had been born into a place so cruel that she wasn't even considered human. He looked at her and wondered if this was how Ace felt before they met, listening to people throughout Goa say that he shouldn't exist without ever knowing that they were steadily driving him to question is right to live. But Ace knew he had been loved, he knew that someone had loved him, his mother who had _died_ for him, he knew that he was precious and important to that one woman who thought the world of him. This girl... she didn't even have that.

"Do you... do you want a name?" he asked, arm moving up to tug at the baggy leg of her jumpsuit, gritting his teeth against the pain moving brought to his back.

Damp brown eyes looked up at him in shock from under her messy gold hair, her expression was difficult to read, disbelief, shock, hope, pain, so many things that he couldn't even begin to describe them all as she realised he had seen her tears and roughly brushed them away with the back of her grubby hand. "I thought you had to be someone important to give another person a name," she admitted quietly, twisting a strand of hair nervously.

Sabo grinned weakly, "I am important, I'm your friend, right?" he pointed out as he heard the girl's shaky inhale.

"I... I've never had a friend before," she admitted, looking bewildered by the prospect, "What do I do, how do I be one?" she asked.

Sabo chuckled and winced slightly in pain as his body reminded him that he was in a pretty bad state, "Well, you don't have to do anything right now," he told her, patting her leg awkwardly. "Friends are people you trust, who'll protect and help you when you need it," he explained reaching up and touching her hair thoughtfully. "Amber," he decided, making her blink in bewilderment as he smiled up at her, "Your name, Amber sounds nice and it matches your hair," he admitted, flushing slightly in embarrassment. "If you don't like it we can think of something else," he told her quickly, well aware of the fact he was completely at the surly girl's mercy like this, he couldn't have moved even if he wanted to.

She opened her mouth to speak when they heard someone yelling, her mouth snapped shut as she jumped to her feet, their small boat rocking precariously under the sudden movement as she looked around, her eyes landing on a large ship not too far away with a group of people, hooded and cloaked, moving around the deck. One of them was pointing in their direction and drawing the attention of others, the girl's face went white as she desperately looked around, for land or another ship Sabo didn't know, either way, she looked utterly terrified as the ship turned in their direction.

She crouched down beside him, "There's a ship approaching, a big one, I..." she swallowed and gently touched his scorched curly hair, "I don't know the people on board but..." She bit and worried at her lip, looking up at the approaching ship and the people shouting down at them.

"Heeeey! Are you two alright?" a male voice shouted from over the side.

"Hey I know that kid! Its Sabo!" another voice cried.

"That punk? What's he doing out here?"

"He survived the fire? Are the other kids there too?" a female voice exclaimed as people began to clamour around the railings of the large ship as they got closer.

Sabo craned his head as best he could before his mouth split into a wide grin. "Its everyone from Grey Terminal, they made it out of the fire!" he exclaimed excitedly and started coughing painfully, blood beginning to fleck his lips.

The girl swore, badly, Sabo didn't think he had ever heard such foul language before in his life, even in the trash heaps! "Is there a Doctor on board?" she shouted up at them, "He needs help! His back is shredded and his lungs are scorched!" she told them as several ropes were thrown towards the tiny ship, she grabbed them and tied the tiny boat off with them at each side, crouching down beside the blond as she heard everyone amass to haul their little boat up on deck.

"You kids hold tight!" the woman's voice shouted, "We'll have you up here in a jiffy!"

"Someone go get Iva!" another voice shouted. The two children assumed Iva was some kind of doctor or the captain of the vessel as their little boat was hoisted out of the water.

_**000**_

She didn't trust this '_Dragon_' guy and she made sure he knew it, the bastard just smirked when she flat out informed him that she didn't trust him or like him much at all, he told her that was fine, she didn't have to trust him to accept his help. All he asked for in return was information. Things like where she came from, at which point her mouth slammed shut so fast she nearly bit her tongue off, she didn't trust him not to ship her straight back to Tequila Wolf in exchange for your usual Slave Price. He must have noticed her reaction because his smirk just widened and he called in one of the women that knew Sabo to go and take her to be cleaned up and fed, they would finish their conversation later.

Amber, because she had decided to take the name her friend gave her, followed a woman out and down the stairs, quietly enquiring about her friend's health now that she didn't have to be afraid of a whipping for asking questions. "He's with Iva-sama and the Ship's Doctor. Don't you worry Ojochan, Sabo-kun will be right as rain before you know it, Iva-sama _is_ the Miracle Worker," the woman explained warmly, clearly very respectful of this Iva person.

Amber, however, was confused. "What's a Miracle?" she asked, blinking up at the woman who jerked and stared at her with wide eyes before her face crumpled with something the fourteen year old had never seen before but would come to recognise in later years as pity.

The woman quickly tried to force a smile, "Its when something so wonderful happens that it can only be the work of Kami-sama," she explained gently as she led the young girl towards the women's quarters where she could find her some spare clothes.

The fourteen year old scowled monstrously at this, "Kami-sama doesn't DO miracles," she informed the woman sharply. In her experience... "Kami-sama's only ever brought anyone misery, don't lie."

Startled and unsure of how to respond to this, the woman swiftly bowed her head and went in search of clothes and escorted the difficult little girl to the bathroom where she could wash up and change. Left to her own devices, for the first time in her life, Amber had a hot bath, a real one with bubbles and shampoo and sweet smelling things. She washed her hair – giving thanks for the first time to that kind old woman who taught her how to read and write and count using an old wax tablet and a nail, without that she wouldn't have been able to figure out the instructions on the bottles. There was one thing that was certain she decided, relaxing in the hot water with her knees drawn up to her chin, she was never _ever_ giving up baths.

She stayed in the water so long her skin wrinkled up like a prune and all the bubbles were gone, the water seemed tepid and lukewarm as she climbed out and bundled herself up in a gloriously fluffy white towel that felt so wonderful on her skin that she never wanted to leave the bathroom. She could quite comfortably live in there if someone delivered the food to the door, she didn't mind if she ended up more wrinkled than Baba Juni.

The thought of Sabo waking up on his own in the hands of strangers spurred her to dry off and reach for the basket she left her jumpsuit in – only to find it replaced with something else.

Amber frowned, lifting the garments and studying them. She didn't think she'd seen anything like it save maybe in the pictures one of the older girls tore out of an ancient magazine she stole from a Guardsman who took a shine to her. It was a soft linen dress, she didn't know the name of the colour though, but it was a soft and pretty shade, like blood mixed with snow or wind-chapped cheeks. She checked and there were some white things that looked like the underwear she'd seen in the magazine tear-outs, knowing how it was supposed to be worn she hastily fumbled her way into them before pulling the dress on. Not knowing or particularly caring that she had put it on inside out and back-to-front.

Stamping back into her work-boots, the blonde girl stepped out of the bathroom, finding that the woman who had shown her around earlier was no where in sight. She huffed in mild annoyance before squaring her shoulders and going off in search of her friend. She ignored her self-consciousness as she made off in the direction that she had seen the other blond carried in, the dress swirling uncomfortably light and open at her knees.

She didn't stumble on anyone until she reached an area of the ship that smelt distinctly of medicine and clean things, it was a largely unfamiliar smell but she still recalled the one time she visited the Hospital Wing of the Slave Camps. She had been forced to carry a Guardsman who slipped and broke a leg, of course none of the slaves had ever used the room, it was exclusively for the Guards and visiting Noble Overseers.

The person she nearly stumbled into was huge, towering over her with a head that almost dominated the narrow passage way, thick curly hair of such a bright, bright blue colour she squinted at it, a strong masculine jawline and paint pasted across what she was quite certain was not a feminine face. She barely came up to the giant's waist as she stared up at the figure in blood-coloured leather and black fishing nets, why this person would wear fishing nets she had no idea but it was such a frightening face that she could feel the blood draining from her face the longer she stared up at it – him, she was fairly certain it was a him.

To Iva, the tiny little slip of a girl dressed in one of her Candy's favourite pink dresses, backwards and inside out, with her face slowly bleaching white and yet still stubbornly standing her ground, was pitiful. She would be a very beautiful young lady one day but right now, it was clear she had no instruction in the feminine arts, for goodness sake, the waif-child was wearing it inside out and the wrong way around, not to mention she looked wholly uncomfortable wearing it. She was holding her ground well though, regardless of her terror, that, at least, the Okama could respect her for.

"Vell, look at you, vearing your dress all skeviff. Come here girl," he commanded, crouching down and grasping the hem of her dress, easily whipping it clean off her scrawny frame. The girl was skin and bone and sinewy muscle, not a single ounce of spare fat, her skin patterned with thick scarring at almost made the seasoned Revolutionary pause before he was able to finish turning the dress the right way and sliding it back over the bewildered child's head.

It was so fast she didn't even have time enough to scream in shock as she was stripped before she was reclothed properly again. Amber was shaken and her terror must have shown when she stumbled half a step backwards, her skin now turning grey as huge dark eyes stared up at the Okama.

Iva wondered just who this girl was, he didn't recall her from the Goa Burnings, "Zere ve go. You had your dress inside out," he explained to her with a small smile. He really did have a soft spot for children as all those with the hearts of maidens did.

Amber swallowed, emboldened by the smile – though it was terrifying it was clearly meant to show he had no intention of harming her – she spoke, "W-where's the medical bay?" she asked weakly, starting to tremble slightly.

The Okama hummed, this must be the young lady that was brought up with Dragon's little friend, the boy who denounced his noble heritage. He refrained from snorting, the noble and the slave girl, how romantic. He didn't comment though and merely turned to the side and gestured at the girl to follow him, already wondering if her scarring was beyond his help or if the right hormone treatments could see to their removal. Pretty girls should not be patterned by hardship in such fashions.

A moment later, Amber was inside her friend's room. He was wrapped head to foot in crisp white bandages and sleeping peacefully.

"He vill sleep for many days," the big headed man explained softly so as not to disturb his patient, "He vas very lucky zose burns did not become infected, vhat ever you did for him vorked. Still, zey vere sapping him of his strength. Rest easy, my Candy, he vill make a full recovery in time."

Amber nodded distractedly and Iva sighed with a small defeated smile. The girl wasn't going to be moving any time soon.

_**000**_

Sabo slept for six days. He would have woken sooner had Iva-san used his Healing Hormones but given how the boy's injuries were not direly life-threatening the hormones were deemed too big of a risk and discarded in favour of traditional and safer ointments and bandages. Amber remained by her friend's side the whole time, forcing Dragon to see her when he wanted information on her Slave Heritage. It was only Iva-san and the ship's doctor whom the blonde haired girl had grown close to in the days she had been haunting the Medical Bay that made the girl finally relax and give her information on Tequila Wolf. Neither the Okama or the Doctor would not allow her to return to Slavery and soon after coming clean she learned just what a Revolutionary was.

Despite being thoroughly interested in fighting for the freedom of all those she left behind, she turned them down. She had every intention of sticking with Sabo no matter what he did. The other blond had given her a name, he was her friend, her first and only one and she knew that meant you didn't ditch them no matter _what_. When forced between saving the people she grew up with, the ones who would sell her out just for a meagre reward such as a bar of chocolate and the young man who gave her something so precious, an identity, and trusted her at his weakest moment... she would choose the young man every time. Dragon smirked at her reasoning, saying that he could definitely respect that sentiment, telling her that she was free to remain with them until such a point they wished to leave, no one would hold them back or try to stop them.

They were free to do as they pleased he declared as he left the room, Iva smirking in amusement as he did so.

By the time Sabo was conscious, they were already in West Blue.

_**000**_

**And that's Chapter one. Hehe, I hope you guys have enjoyed the first Chapter of Dream Chaser. **

**This originally started off as an RP between myself and a friend, wondering how Sabo would survive and how things would progress after that. Looking back on it, it was a lot of fun to RP but rather unrealistic XDDD still, I wanted to see if anyone else had focused on our lost brother only to find that... well, no one actually HAD done Sabo's own adventure. I've found a few oneshots, but nothing that really grabbed me, y'know?**

**Well, after that I decided that if I'd gone looking for it then someone else must have as well and been equally deprived. Which prompted me to take the RP I did with my friend, rewrite and revamp it with new characters and situations and storylines. **

**The original had slash, but I'm thinking of leaving ALL romance out of this for the simple fact of not wanting pairing wars and due to how the One Piece world views Nakama. I can't pair the Strawhats together because they're Nakama and if they hook up romantically, it just feels like the bond between them is cheapened. Maybe I'm just weird like that but I think they're closer than lovers and a lot more important to each other.**

**Lovers come and go but friends stay forever, as they say.**

**Anyway, thoughts and opinions welcome!**


	2. C2: Hesitation

**DREAM CHASER: The Sabo Chronicles**

_**000**_

**CHAPTER TWO**

_This was the first step on my journey. _

_And it wasn't a pleasant one by any stretch of the imagination, colourful or not. Upon sailing out from my home in the Kingdom of Goa, I was attacked by one of the visiting World Nobles from the Grand Line, one of the descendants of the men who created our world. They are treated as Gods and are above all rebuke, law and punishment, as I learned the hard way when the titled Saint drew his weapon and fired upon me. For the crime of crossing paths with his ship. A child though I was at the time, he cared not and continued to shoot until nothing but burning debris remained. Fire and pain lashed my back as my small ship ignited and exploded under his furious onslaught. _

_I was lucky to survive. Lucky, or blessed, either way, I met one of my most trusted friends and Nakama not long after. _

_She hauled me out of the ocean, tended to my wounds, a girl only a few years older than I, still a child despite her budding body, and so poor she did not possess even a name of her own. I named her Amber, after her caramel golden hair. She liked it and has never strayed from my side since. A sister in all but blood and someone who has shed more than I wish to think about on my behalf. _

_It __is __strange __to __think __that __we __were __rescued __by __Revolutionaries __when __I __was __taught __my __whole __life __to __fear __them, __those __like __them, __seeking __to __upset __the __'_natural order of things_' __as __my __Tutors __called __it. __I __was __shown __more __kindness __by __strangers, __hunted __and __abused, __than __those __who __claimed __to __be __so __much __better __than __them._

_I was brought before the Miracle Worker Iva-san for my injuries. An eccentric and charismatic individual who cared nothing for the barrier between genders, and actively sought to break it down to nothing. The Queen of the Okamas. Possessing the unique abilities of a Paramacia Devil Fruit, he was able to manipulate the hormones of the subject in which he injected them, making it entirely possible to break down that gender divide – which I discovered in a rather shocking fashion when I witnessed him stab himself with his own fingers and change. Instead of being a thickly built man of powerful muscle with a misshapen head and square jaw, he became a strangely beautiful woman with smooth skin, curves in all the right places and the grace of a ballet dancer._

_Amber would later tell me of her meeting with their leader, the head of the Revolutionary Army, the most Wanted man in the world, Dragon. She could not seem to find the words to describe him to me, neither having the vocabulary nor even the skill to try, later, when I met him myself, I would agree with her. Some things just cannot be put into words, and Dragon is one of them._

_He is simply a man you must meet to understand this difficulty._

_We sail now to the Kingdom of Ilusia in West Blue, to the seat of another World Noble. The Revolutionaries hope to begin another campaign there, to sew the seeds of freedom amidst the people. _

_Amber and I were invited to join with them, I had considered it long and hard during our journey to the capitol of Ilusia, Miraje, I had to think hard for Amber had decided that where I went, she would follow._

_We spent two weeks in Ilusia._

_**000**_

Sabo was glad he was bed bound, just passing through the city he could tell already that this place was just as bad, if not worse, than Goa. The place was blindingly white and clean, as far as the eye could see was fine architecture and flowers, well off men and women, Nobles, their children well dressed and just as snooty as their parents. There were _only_ Nobles and those who served them here. It made Sabo anxious. After all, what if this was the place where Goa Kingdom got the idea of murdering all the '_undesirables_'?

Had these people successfully managed to slaughter all their homeless, poor, sick and those who were _different_, either in sexuality, religion or ethnicity?

Amber had already come back in tears one day. Iva looking apoplectic as she stomped off down into the basement where Dragon had set himself up with row upon row of Den Den Mushi in order to co-ordinate the Revolutionaries in their missions around the Kingdom, leaving the bed-ridden ten year old to try and console the almost hysterically furious and sobbing girl. It took a while to get the full story out of her and it just cemented all of his beliefs about this place. She had come across a blind old man begging for money on the street corner, but when she attempted to give him some of her food, a near-by Noble used his cane to lash it from her fingers, scolding her for wasting her time with such useless filth. She had been so shocked that she hadn't been able to react when the Noble started beating the blind man about the head with his cane.

"I told him to stop," she choked out, roughly scrubbing at her eyes, gritting her teeth and hitting the mattress with her closed fist. "I told him, I _told __him_ he should be helping! If he disliked the sight of other people in such a state so much then he should help them." She hiccuped, beginning to cry again. The Noble had stopped and seemed to think about her words, lowering his cane before actually agreeing with her, she was right, if he hated the sight of them then he should help them. She hadn't been able to stop him from pulling his Flint-Lock pistol and shooting the old man in the head.

"I should have broken his nasty little neck!" the blonde girl snarled, jumping to her feet, her borrowed dress flaring to emphasize her anger as she paced up and down his small recovery room. "Iva-san wouldn't let me though, she dragged me back here before I could," she seethed furiously, hands curling and uncurling.

It was hard to calm her down after that point. Sabo figured out that she was a lot like Ace and turned her fears or insecurities into rage so as to keep herself from falling apart. She was going to be an utter firecracker when she grew up Iva-san said, chuckling a little at the girl sleeping on the bed beside his own having finally worn herself out and fallen into a tearful sleep. The event had no repercussions as far as the pair were aware, Amber refused to leave the house or the grounds of their safe-house, too furious and too aware of what she would do if she ran into that piece of scum again. She instead took to learning from the Lady of the House, Mirabelle.

Mirabelle, a sixty something sweet old lady, and her husband Hector, seventy six and still going strong, owned the small three floored townhouse and the two acres of land around it on the outskirts of the Capitol they were temporarily calling home. They had willingly opened their doors to the Revolutionaries, having their own private vendetta and hatred for the World Nobles in charge. With her golden blonde hair streaked with silver and snow white, Mirabelle looked like she could have been Amber's grandmother as the two of them worked together in the kitchen, the elder teaching the younger how to cook and bake and even how to sew in the evenings. Tasks that had enthralled the young former slave, never had she been allowed to touch food or prepare it in a way that she herself would like, things like ovens were foreign to her and the first clumsy dress she made of dark blue cotton with a wonky and knobbly lace hem was much beloved and she had worn it as often as she could ever since.

Hector often sat beside Sabo during the day when the girls were off doing things, he spoke about his days in the Marines, protocol, bases, Devil Fruits, the Pirates he fought and the dos and don't of Sailing. The two of them spoke at length over Navigation and Weather Prediction, the old man laughing and slapping his leg as he told him such things were pretty much pointless on the Grand Line unless you were able to see the future. Cyclones could whip themselves up in a matter of seconds and there was nothing you could do but cling to the railings of your ship and hope to all hell you didn't get torn apart.

It seemed only too soon that Iva-san announced that they would be leaving.

Sabo almost didn't want to go. He liked his conversations with Hector, the way Amber would rush into the room with trays of freshly made muffins and cookies, giggling and happy as she showed them off and let them have them, Mirabelle laughing gaily from the doorway. The way the older girl would sit beside him, her tongue poking out as she scowled down at the piece of cloth she was trying to embroider while he read books on Navigation by the light of candles at night. How Mirabelle would wake them both up by opening the door and playing her piano downstairs so the music would rouse them without it being jarring. How Hector would tell dirty jokes when he thought Amber wasn't listening – only to be shocked when she turned around and asked if he'd heard of this one, and it being a _lot_ dirtier than his own. It felt like... well, it felt like a family. Not _his_ family, no, never his, but it felt like how a normal family should have been.

A normal family he would give up in a heartbeat if it meant he could return to his brothers. He missed them so much it was painful. Luffy's stupidity, Ace's gruffness. He missed Grey Terminal and Mount Corbo, even Curly Dadan and her bandits. Makino and the way Ace would go all blushy and embarrassed when she teased him, Luffy's enthusiastic declarations, even Garp. He even missed that absent minded, selfish old bastard who beat on him, Ace and Luffy with '_the __fist __of __love_'.

But when he wrote that letter to his brothers, he knew he would not be seeing them until they finally caught up to him. So he took a deep breath and held it, shaking his head and concentrating on the _here_ and the _now_. And how much he wanted his first Bounty to be – he would snicker to himself and wonder how jealous Luffy would be when he saw it, or how hacked off Ace would be that it wasn't higher.

The former Noble had only been allowed to walk around the last few days when Hector and Mirabelle presented the two children with some gifts. The two were tearful as they explained that once upon a time ago, they had children, a son and a daughter. Sabo and Amber reminded them so strongly of their children that they lost to the cruelty of the World Nobles, they did not wish for them to leave, but knew they must. So, instead, Mirabelle gave Amber her daughter's fine dresses and jewellery, saying that if she ever had need of money, she only had to sell them, she knew her daughter would not mind. From Hector, Sabo received the books on Navigation and Mapping that he had been so absorbed in along with a collection of pistols, a _beautiful _rapier, muskets and a truly ornate and well-maintained Blunderbuss from his days as a Marine.

They had both tried to refuse, to turn the gifts away. But when they set sail, Iva-san appeared in their shared Cabin with two bags from the elderly couple containing those things they had tried to leave behind. With no choice other than to throw them overboard, they kept the gifts and vowed to return and thank them some day.

It was on the third day of their journey and the two of them were out on deck, enjoying the sunshine and fresh breeze, Sabo only just having finished the exercises that Iva-san told him to do so he wouldn't lose his skin's flexibility. Amber watched him carefully as he did so to make sure he didn't strain anything, even setting aside her embroidery to make certain. She made for an unusual yet much welcome sight to the rough sea-goers that manned their ship in her bright pretty dress of yellow velvet and white lace.

"Where do you think we're going now?" Sabo asked panting as he leaned against the railings of the ship, watching the ocean swell and fall beneath the prow. The exercises weren't difficult per-say, but they did involve him curling his body into a pretzel, it made breathing rather difficult in those positions, hence his heavy breathing.

"I heard some people mentioning Ohara. They think there might be some information left over, or a Ponygriffin," Amber told him idly, picking the cloth back up and continuing with her embroidery, tongue poking out again much to his amusement. They sat in silence for a time before, with an exclamation of triumph, Amber bit the last of her threading off. "Done! Here, what do you think?" she asked presenting him with the length of red fabric.

Frowning a little in confusion, he unfolded it and inhaled sharply in surprise. It was a neck scarf, like the ones he used to wear back home. This one was red though and he could see she had been very, _very_ careful when she stitched _his _Jolly-Roger onto it! The 'S' and crossbones were so carefully done, clear of knobbling and dodgy threading. Just how long had she spent working on this? He looked up at her in shock only to find her grinning so broadly her eyes were nearly crinkled shut.

"I knew you'd like it! I saw you doodle it in the corner of one of those Navigation books," she explained proudly, looking very pleased with herself.

Sabo laughed out of sheer surprise before he draped it around his neck, tying it into place as he normally would have, taking care to have the side with his Jolly-Roger on display. He didn't know why, it was practically weightless and he'd both kept it loose and couldn't even feel it through the thick wrappings of his bandages, but he felt better just having it on, more comfortable, more like his old self.

He grinned up and her and the two of them laughed.

_**000**_

They weren't members of the Revolutionary Army, they had been asked but Sabo didn't know how to answer and thus no one seemed to think of them as such. They were given chores as every child was, taught things that every child was, Sabo having to help Amber with the gaps in her knowledge. Some of the more bored members even helped them improve on their fighting abilities after Iva-san cleared Sabo for that kind of thing – though he did forbid anything above light contact until his burns were finished healing.

Sabo continued with his pole-fighting, he was darn good with a staff and he was going to stick to it as his main weapon. However, he kept the Rapier, he had been taught to handle that while still living under his father's thumb in Goa. He was quite good with it if he did say so himself and despite his misgivings of how that came about, he wasn't foolish enough to throw aside a weapon just because he found the methods in which he learned to use it distasteful. Just in case, one of the crew members, Jordan, a cheerful bloke from South Blue taught him something called Boxing. Apparently it was considered a Gentleman's way of fighting, using only the fists and very swift footwork to dodge and duck he cold be quite devastating in close combat.

On the other hand, no one had wanted to teach Amber anything, she was a girl and she looked so doll-like and pretty in her hand-me-down dresses from Mirabelle's daughter that they didn't think she could handle it. Until one day she showed up in her old Slave boiler suit, the sleeves tied around her waist and a black tank top on, and then proceeded to punch one of the older men half way across the deck when he said he would test her – and not to worry, he would take it easy on her. No one did that again. The seemingly delicate fourteen year old girl had a _monstrous_ right hook and her kicks were even stronger. Despite her close combat skills, what really shocked them was her aim. Uncomfortable with her being such a close quarters fighter, one of the men suggested teaching her pistols so she would have another skill set to fall back on and only go into the fray if there was no choice. It was a good suggestion given how she took to the guns better than a fish did to water.

Enough so that Sabo gave her the guns that Hector gave to him, despite her objections.

They continued to sail with Dragon and his Crew, learning and growing with them, doing chores and running errands, yet never allowed to take part in their missions. When they docked at the ruined and blackened island of Ohara, they weren't allowed to even leave the ship – apparently just setting foot on the island was an offence punishable by execution. The people of Ohara had been studying a Ponygliff, a record left by a dead civilisation that the World Government did not want anyone to know, and so they raised the whole island to the ground and killed everyone who had ever lived upon it. All but a single little girl who the Revolutionaries had been searching and hunting for for the past seven years in the hopes of protecting her. Evidentially, she didn't need their help as no one had been able to catch her, the Marines, or the Revolutionaries.

Whatever they had been looking for on Ohara wasn't there and they sailed off before the Marines could spot them, they hadn't even been docked for five hours before they were leaving the island again. Everything returned to normal after that point though and neither Sabo nor Amber thought to question them any further as their days were filled with training, learning and chores.

Yet still, not once was the subject of them joining brought up after that first invitation.

"What are you gunna say?" Amber asked in the darkness of their room. But Sabo didn't reply, he didn't know what he would say, whether it was yes or no. He just didn't know.

_**000**_

In the end, he approached Iva-san on the matter, the man was all about freedom so he would give some good advice as to whether or not he should join. Right now he was drowning in indecision.

"Vell, it all comes down to vone question," the Okama told him, striking a pose, his fishnet cape fluttering suggestively. However, he was still much too young to think of it. "Vhen you left your home, vere you _planning_ on joining us?" he asked, eyebrow shooting towards his permed hairline. Sabo shook his head, nothing of the sort had even crossed his mind in all honesty. Iva nodded, as if expecting this. "Vhat vere your plans?"

"I..." Thinking back on it, he felt very childish and embarrassed about his dream, shifting ashamedly in his seat as he hesitantly explained about his desire to write a book all about his adventures. About freedom outside a gilded cage. He mumbled about how he hoped it would help other kids in his position break their chains and find their own freedom.

"A good dream," Iva told him proudly, "A very good dream. Vone you vish to stick vith, da?" Sabo nodded, still pink in the cheeks. As embarrassing as it was to tell an adult about his desire, he felt better now that he had reminded himself of it, of what he told his brothers. "Zen I don't zink you should be joining vith us until you haff fulfilled your dream," Iva declared with a decisive nod. "You haff barely begun to experience ze vorld, it vould not be fair of us to trap you to our cause before you haff reached a reasonable age, until you haff experienced all the cruelties and pleasures of ze vorld."

"Does... does this mean Amber and I have to leave now?" he asked warily.

"Goodness no!" Iva exclaimed, looking scandalised at the very thought. "Dragon would haff my head if I suggested such a zing!" He shook his head and placed a red leather clad hand on the ten year old's bandaged shoulder, "You vill stay for as long as you vish. Zings will not change unless you vish it of zem. Ve vill not frow you out for simply disagreeing vis us."

The blond nodded, smiling in relief. While he was perfectly happy to continue his journey, he knew he wasn't quite ready for it, not yet. The ocean was a dangerous place. Perhaps in a year or so, maybe two if his burns didn't heal all that quickly but he would be ready and he would be ready soon. Both he and Amber would take the world by storm and find their Nakama, his main characters, the lead cast for the best book anyone had ever written!

_**000**_

**And chapter two finished. Again, a bit shorter than usual but it was such a good place to leave off. **

**I hope I've done Iva justice, s/he is a rather difficult one to get done right. **

**Things should hopefully kick off next chapter when I timeskip a little, Sabo and Amber will be sticking with the Revolutionaries a while before continuing their journey alone.**

**Until next time!**

Also, no worries, I won't be having any pairings in this unless I get enough people requesting otherwise.


End file.
